Records the recommendations of a WHO expert committee responsible for
reviewing information on psychoactive drugs to assess the need for their
international control under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, or
the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971. Evaluations are presented for
fourteen substances, including four benzodiazepines, nine designer drugs
(analogues of fentanyl, tenamfetamine and aminorex), and dronabinol.
Recommendations are based on a review of pharmacological and epidemiological
data together with evidence indicating the potential of serious abuse-related
social and health problems. For each drug, a summary of effects on the central
nervous system, dependence potential, likelihood of abuse, and therapeutic
usefulness is followed by the committee's recommendations on scheduling under
the international treaties. Proposals include the recommended scheduling of the
benzodiazepine midazolam and the rescheduling, to provide for less stringent
control, of dronabinol, which may be useful as an antiemetic adjunct to cancer
chemotherapy. The committee also recommended that all nine designer drugs be
subject to international control. The report concludes with general
recommendations concerning specifications for the types of information required
to facilitate decision-making on the international control of psychoactive
substances...